


Synchronicity

by Lexi_the_dragon_muse



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: AU: No Island, F/M, bratva!Oliver
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-03-02 15:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2816978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lexi_the_dragon_muse/pseuds/Lexi_the_dragon_muse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five years after being declared dead in a plane crash over Siberia, Oliver Queen resurfaces in Starling City.  It's Felicity Smoak's job to find out why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. So this is my first foray into Arrow fanfic and I am currently addicted to Bratva fics. This idea came to me. This is just the prologue, so I'd love to get some feedback on whether or not people are interested in the story! This will more than likely be a slow build to an actual relationship, but I will be using a few things that happened in Season 1 in the story. Also, I do not have a beta at this time, so if you see any errors, feel free to let me know! (I try and reread my own work a couple of times, but sometimes things do escape me).

Felicity Smoak tugged at the bottom of her black suit jacket self-consciously, the style an abrupt change from her normal attire of jeans and combat boots that she had worn proudly during her life as a hacktivist at MIT.  After the mess with Cooper (with him being arrested and subsequently committing suicide in prison), she had completely put those times behind her.  Now, she was embarking on a journey to become the one thing that she had spent the last four years rebelling against.  A government worker.  And not just any government worker, but she had applied for and gotten a position at the CIA.

She had awoken that morning with a veritable swarm of butterflies in her stomach.  She wasn’t have second thoughts (okay, really more like fifth and sixth thoughts), but she was more concerned with fitting in with her new coworkers.  Really, the Felicity of a year ago was rolling over in her grave at the steps she had taken to completely break free of her life.  But, this was a change that she felt necessary and more importantly she thought it was the best fit for her skills.

“Agent Smoak?”

Felicity looked up to find a woman dressed in a black suit, much like her own, and a plain white shirt standing in front of her.  “Yes?”

“I’m Agent Vendler.  Will you come with me?”

She rose and grabbed her bag from where it was laying in the chair next to her.  She followed the woman into the bowels of the building, past many cubicle farms and finally to a locked door.

Agent Vendler smiled.  “This is our analyst’s room.  Where we process a multitude of different incoming information.  All you have to do is swipe your badge to get access.  Go ahead.”

Felicity nodded and quickly swiped the badge, shiny in its newness, and the light flashed green.  Agent Vendler opened the door and Felicity walked into heaven.  There were high-tech flat screen monitors all over the room and a quiet that she always associated with working on a computer.  The click-clack of keys being struck and muted conversation.  The agent motioned for her to follow and she did, to an empty chair in front of a monitor.  “Did they give you your login information?”

Felicity nodded.  “Will this be my station?”

“Yes.  Let’s get you logged in and make sure everything is in working order.”

Felicity quickly complied and in moments her screen was active.  She was just about to ask what her first task was when another analyst’s head popped up.  “Yo!  Vendler!  Gotta live one for you.”

The woman shook her head.  “What is it Ash?”

“Plane crash in Russia.  Russian television is reporting that a plane carrying Robert Queen and his son crashed over Siberia.  Mechanical failure they are saying.”

Agent Vendler walked over to Ash.  “Mechanical failure on a plane carrying a billionaire?  Not likely.  What do you know?”

“Not much.  I’ve tried getting information, but I can’t make it past the firewalls.”

Felicity was listening with curiosity.  She knew that when she was hired, she would be working with the best of the best and to hear one of them admit to failure kicked her competitive streak into high gear.  Quickly she focused on the screen in front of her, pulling up a coding box and began to type furiously.  Three minutes later, she did a fist pump of glee.  “I’m in!” she called out.

“In to what?” Agent Vendler said as she walked back over to her. 

“The Russian government’s computers.  What do you want me to look at?”

There was surprise glittering in the woman’s eyes.  “You broke in to the Russian government in minutes?”

“Well, yeah.  It’s not like their sites are secure enough to hold me out.  Really, it was harder to hack the DOD than it was them.  Not by much, seriously both systems are crap, but that is just what made it easy.  Also, I’ve put a false trail in so that even if the Russian’s do manage to find the hack, which is not really likely at this point since they made it so easy for me to get in, but if they do, then they will trace this back to the Chinese.”  She looked at the shocked look on the agent’s face.  “Okay.  Shutting up now in three, two, one.”

Agent Vendler just shook her head.  “Tell me anything and everything that Russia has on Robert Queen.”

Felicity nodded as she turned her attention back to the monitor, cheeks burning at the unexpected word vomit that had just come out.  “So, it looks like Robert Queen did a lot and I mean a lot of business with Russian companies.”  She started as she pulled up more information and applied the translation program.  “Oh, wow.  It looks like a lot of those said businesses had ties to the Bratva?  What is that?  The Russian mob?”

“Yes, it is,” came the reply to her question.

“All righty then.  So, Mr. Queen was working with businesses that were associated with the Russian mob, but it looks like he may have found out about that…” she trailed off as her fingers flew quickly over the keys, pausing to pull up another window and quickly gaining access to the information at Queen Consolidated.  “Yes.  Here is a memo from Mr. Queen to his board of directors.  It looks like he was trying to cut ties with the businesses affiliated with the mob and that was the purpose of the trip to Russia.”  She turned in her chair and looked at the Agent, who she believed at this point was actually her supervisor.

“Did you just hack into QC?” called out a voice from across the room. 

Felicity turned to look at the man, Ash, and nodded.  “Yup.”

“I’ve been trying to break into their systems for months, but they’ve always managed to block me.  How the hell did you do that in a manner of seconds?”

“Um, it was easy?”

Agent Vendler cleared her throat.  “Thank you for the information, Agent Smoak.  No one has been able to successful hack the Russian’s system since they did their last upgrade two years ago.”

Felicity felt her cheeks warm again.  “Oh.”

Agent Vendler smiled.  “Oh, indeed.  Beginning tomorrow you will be attending our Russian language class.  I expect you to get fluent in the language, both written and verbal, so that you don’t have to rely on a translation program.  Good job.”

And with that note, Felicity felt a weight lift off her chest.  It felt like she had found the place she was meant to be.


	2. Undercover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bratva activity is increasing in Starling City, so Agent Smoak goes undercover to try to find out what is going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Guys, y'all have really made my day with the response to this fic! So first off, THANK YOU for all the comments and kudos! This chapter is later than I wanted, but Christmas week was uber busy for me and then I got sick. I am feeling a bit better (nothing is worse than the common cold unless it's the flu) and I have a resolution for this new year. I'm making it a NaNoWriYe. Yes, I'm aiming for writing 1667 words each day this year. Hopefully, that will translate into not only my original novel, but any and all fanfics that I have hanging out there!

If you had asked Felicity five years ago what she would be doing, she would have proudly said that she had no idea.  No five or ten year plan.  That had been shattered by Cooper getting arrested and then committing suicide in prison.  Then she had made the decision that had changed her life.  She had not only dyed her hair blonde, but joined the CIA.

After hacking the Russian government in record time (a feat no one had accomplished in two years), her supervisor had insisted that she learn Russian.  A feat that once she had time to think about it was laughable at best.  She had barely skated by in high school Spanish and it was only her hacking skills that saved her GPA.  She had told Agent Vendler that fact and the woman had laughed before handing her a box.  Who knew that the CIA used Rosetta Stone to teach their agents languages?

Now four years later, here she was sitting in the lobby of Queen Consolidated, waiting for a job interview for their IT department, complete with a backstopped resume to cover for the fact that she actually worked for the CIA.  She looked down at the bright pink nail polish that she had layered on the night before and sighed. 

When she had brought Agent Vendler the evidence of increased Bratva activity in Starling City, she had never anticipated the outcome of her findings.  She could never had anticipated that she would be going undercover at Queen Consolidated to try to ferret out where the activity was.  One, since QC had completely cut all ties with any companies associated with any sort of mob and two, well she wasn’t an agent.  She didn’t have their training.  In fact, her hand-to-hand…well sucked to put it lightly.  She was okay with a gun, but nowhere close to the proficiency that an actual agent would be. 

Agent Vendler had insisted that it be her for some reason, and she couldn’t fault the woman’s logic.  _Look, Felicity.  We don’t need an agent here per se.  We need a tech guru.  Even you stated that QC’s systems were basically a sieve and someone has to up their security.  Just because the new CEO cut all ties, it doesn’t mean that someone else in the company isn’t using it to launder money at the very least._

She had agreed.  It was true.  She had no idea what the IT department at QC was doing, but in the wake of the death of Robert Queen, whatever their information security department was doing, it wasn’t actually providing information security.  That had been bugging her the last year, since that was when the security had taken a turn for the worse.  She almost wondered what had happened to cause the drop, but since they weren’t connected to Russia or Bratva, she had let it go.  Now, she was stepping into the lion’s den.

“Felicity Smoak?” the receptionist called to her.

“Me.  That’s me,” Felicity called out as she quickly stood, grabbing her bag.  It felt weird to be dressed in an amalgamation of her MIT wardrobe and her CIA wardrobe, but it was all part of the backstopping that she had done when she had accepted the assignment.  A black pencil skirt was very much the new Felicity, but the bright blouse, shoes and bright lipstick were all classier remnants of her past.  At least she was used to walking in heels now, instead of her combat boots from college. 

The man standing beside the reception desk was good looking, in the corporate Ken kind of way.  Expertly tailored suit, perfectly styled hair and as she accepted his handshake, a manicure that she would love to have.  “Hi,” she said enthusiastically.  “I’m Felicity Smoak.”

“Ms. Smoak, wonderful to meet you.  My name is Andrew Jefferson and I will be conducting your interview today.”  He seemed to be giving her the once over and Felicity could see the moment that he dismissed her as a dumb blonde.

She gritted her teeth against the man, but outwardly did not let her anger at the glass ceiling show.  She had known when she had entered into MIT that women in the tech field were rare, but since she had gone into the CIA, she hadn’t felt much of the discrimination.  Granted she was one of the few women in tech at the CIA, but hacking into the Russian government on her first day had pretty much awed everyone into accepting her prowess.  “I’m happy for the opportunity,” she said calmly as she followed the man to an elevator.

The elevator ride to the eleventh floor was short and soon she was sitting in a small room and she handed over a copy of her resume.  He didn’t even glance at it.  Instead, he gave her a fake smile and said, “So, Ms. Smoak.  Tell me about yourself.”

#

An hour later, Felicity walked out of Queen Consolidated with her temper barely under control.  Andrew Jefferson had been nothing but condescending to her and it set her teeth on edge.  He’d questioned the fact that she had graduated from MIT at the tender age of twenty-one with a Master’s Degree in Cyber Security and computer science.  He’d questioned her skills, throwing scenario after scenario about what she would do in certain situations at her.  She had answered every one in a perky voice and a smile that she hoped did not reveal her condemnation for the man.  Then, he had pulled in the manager that she would be working for to go over all of it again.  To make it worse, the manager, Caleb Waterhouse, was clearly not the person who actually handled the day to day functions of the proposed job and had no clue what she would actually be doing if she was actually hired.  So needless to say when her phone rang, she wasn’t in the best mood.

“Hello?” she all but growled into the phone.

_“Smoak!  Goddess of hacking, how’s it hanging there in Starling City?”_

“I’m surprised that QC hasn’t been taken over by some rival with the clear ineptitude of their employees, Ash.  How are you?” she returned with a small smile.  That was one surprise of her tenure with the CIA.  Even though she had bested Ash in hacking numerous times, the man was actually happy about it.  When you consider that she took over the top hacking spot from him only a few days into her job, she had actually wondered if this was going to be a rivalry, but they actually had turned into friends and traded different tips as well.

_“That bad, huh?”_

“Ash, I’ve seen spiders that have better computer skills then the two men that just interviewed me.  Do me a fav and see if you can make it so that I actually get the damn job.  You know as well as I do that none of the other candidates have my resume or skills.  It will be child’s play to get into their systems until I get in there and upgrade their security.”

He laughed.  _“Oh, I already did that.  I actually hacked the security feed to the interview.  You did good, girl.  I would have lost my temper.”_

“Almost did,” she replied as she finally flagged down a cab and gave them the address to the townhome that the Agency had set her up with.  “Stupid Cro-Magnon men.  Think that a woman is only there to look pretty and get someone coffee.”

Ash just laughed.  _“Anyway, Smoak.  That is actually not there reason I called.  I wanted to let you know that I sent you a highly encrypted document that you should read as soon as you get to your place.  And also, thanks for leaving all the back doors for me to hack the Russians.  They just upgraded again, but it didn’t block your ways in.”_

That brought a smile to her face.  “Oh course not.  When you plan a security upgrade online, don’t be surprised when you can spot certain weakness that can be exploited.”  She couldn’t keep the smugness out of her voice, but really, they had made it easy for her to build her backdoors around the approved security upgrades.  “They upgrade about once every year to year and a half.  Keep an eye out for any documents about their security…”

_“And then I can build the backdoors around the upgrade.  Why didn’t I ever think about that?”_

Felicity just snorted as the cab pulled to a stop.  “Okay.  I’m at my place.  I’ll call you later, ‘kay?”

_“Of course.  Happy hacking!”_

Felicity shook her head as she quickly dropped the phone in her purse and pulled out money for the cab.  “Keep the change,” she said as she slid out.  She looked at the outside of the townhome and smiled.  It was so different than her apartment in DC, but she was looking forward to really exploring it.  She had only stopped by long enough when her flight got in to change into her interview clothes and drop off her suitcases, so she was wondering what the setup team had actually left for her to match her supposed personality and lifestyle.

She opened the front door and walked into the small foyer where she had left her suitcase.  She ignored the suitcase for now and walked towards the living room, passing the powder/laundry room on her left and the dining room on the right.  The living room was full of light.  The walls and the furniture were neutral, but the accent pieces were all bright colors, fuchsia and teal.  There were prints of comics and Dr. Who framed on the wall.  She shook her head.  It was actually perfect for her.  _I wonder if they will let me keep some of this when I get back to DC?_

Shaking her head, she looked into the kitchen, complete with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.  She loved the openness of the area.  If only she could cook more than two different things.  She made her way back to the stairs and grabbed her suitcase before walking up them to the spacious second floor, which featured three bedrooms and two full baths.  The bedroom by the stairs was set up as an office and the one next to it as a guest room.  On the opposite side of the stairs was the master bedroom, so she walked into it to find a beautifully appointed bedroom.  The entrance to the master bath was by the door and the walk in closet was connected to both the bedroom and bathroom.

From her briefing package, she knew that there was a hidden elevator in the master closet, which led to the secret basement where the majority of her computer equipment was, so that was the next area she was doing to explore.  So she kicked off her shoes and walked into the closet to find the switch for the elevator hidden in the electrical panel.  Part of the wall slid open to reveal the smallest elevator she had ever seen, only big enough for maybe two people, and stepped in.  The descent down two floors was whisper quiet and when the door slid open to reveal her workspace, Felicity felt like, Hanukkah had come early.  The workspace mirrored her set up at the CIA with multiple big screens and an ergonomic chair.

She quickly moved to the chair and booted the systems up, pulling up her email first so she could look at the information that Ash had sent her.  Once she broke the encryptions, she pulled up the video files and gasped in shock at what she saw.  Oliver Queen alive and well in Moscow.

_Well, this changes things,_ she thought as her mind buzzed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a link to what I envision Felicity's townhome looking like.   
> http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l481/TheSexyMuggleLibrarian/Synchronicity/Felicitystownhome.jpg
> 
> Thanks for reading!!! Reviews are much appreciated (and I do respond to all reviews). :)


	3. Back from the Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver comes back to Starling in the midst of hugs, tears and mysteries. Oh my.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So I can't believe that I am updating this story 36 hours after the last chapter! :) I'm on a roll right now. Thanks to all the kudos and reviews! They do help to inspire me. I actually have no clue where exactly the story is going, so if anyone has any thoughts on what you would like to see, let me know in a review and hopefully it will inspire my muse.
> 
> With this chapter, we finally get to see Oliver's POV and for some reason his POV is really working for me better than Felicity's right now. I'm sure that will change once they meet (which will be at least 2 chapters).

Eight months.  It had been eight months since Agent Felicity Smoak had gone undercover in Starling City as an IT tech at Queen Consolidated in search of information on increased activity from the Bratva.  Eight months of dead ends and surprises.  Eight months of finding out the Oliver Queen was in fact alive and well in Russia, but yet his family still thought he was dead.  Eight months that had driven Felicity crazy with her inability to find out any information she could on Oliver Queen.

Needless to say, she was frustrated.  However Oliver Queen survived the plane crash, the information was not on the internet, or if it was, it was protected by someone who had her level of ability in cyber security.  Her search into any and all Bratva connections in Starling City were going better at this point.  She had identified a dozen or so potential Bratva connections with businesses.  She wasn’t sure if these people were actually part of Bratva or just people that the Bratva used when conducting business in Starling City.  At the top of that list right now was Adam Hunt, CEO of Hunt Multinational. 

Fortunately, after the initial shock of seeing exactly how bad the cyber security at QC was, she was able to update their systems dramatically.  Not that she ever got any platitudes for that since her manager Caleb Waterhouse had taken all the credit for it.  She didn’t let that get to her though, since it allowed her to remain under the radar to conduct her investigation.  Which was what she was doing on a sunny Saturday morning, when her phone rang.

“Hey, Ash.  What’s up?” she answered without preamble.

_“Turn on your TV, Smoak.”_

Curious about his request, she did as asked and felt her eyes grow wide at the breaking news story.  “This just in,” said the newscaster.  “Oliver Queen has been found alive in a small, native village in Siberia.”  The TV showed many shots of the Queen heir bundled up in coats made from animal hides.

“What?” Felicity said into the phone.

_“That’s the thing.  We know that the man was in Moscow last year, but it looks like he is making a comeback.  The initial reports are saying that he survived the plane crash and was found by a tribe that abhors technology in Siberia.  If that was the case, then why would he have not been found closer to the site of the crash?  The thing is…he was found hundreds of miles away.”_

Felicity quickly switched over to her Bluetooth headset and began to type away.  “Have you found anything in the Russian government’s servers?”

_“Nothing.  Nothing at all.  From the chatter that I am founding, the Russians were caught unawares as well.  The chatter, well, let’s just say that most of the chatter is reflecting shock.  The particular tribe that he was discovered with is one that only gets outside visitors once in a decade at most.  They live completely with the land and have no technology whatsoever.  The closest town to them is almost a thousand miles away.”_

Felicity didn’t say anything as she brought up multiple boxes, trying to figure out what was going on, but she couldn’t find anything beyond what Ash had told her.  “This is very weird,” she muttered.

_“Yes, it is.  Vendler wants you to focus your attention on the Bratva.  You know that we suspected that they had a hand in the plane coming down, but why they would keep Oliver Queen alive?  What purpose would that serve?”_

“So, I need to try to get into the Bratva’s servers.  I can try, but whomever they have doing their cyber security is as good as I am.  It’s not going to be easy.”  Felicity paused.  “Maybe, if I can tie one of the people I’ve identified as possible Bratva in Starling, I can use their computer to hack into the main system.  Okay.  I’ve got my work cut out for me.  Later, Ash.”

 _“Call if you need me,”_ Ash responded as he disconnected the line.

Felicity just took off the Bluetooth and lost herself in the code.

#

Oliver Queen walked off the Queen family jet to bright flashes of light from surrounding paparazzi.  He squinted and flinched as reports began to call out his name.  After five years of anonymity, the return to the limelight was disconcerting at best, terrifying at worst.  Thankfully, a security team surrounded him and without a further thought he climbed into the waiting limo to be whisked off to Starling General Hospital.  He was dreading that, but he knew that it necessary.  He hadn’t talked about his time away to anyone and he preferred not to, knowing that the experiences that he’d had changed him down to the core. 

Growing up, he had both respected and resented his father.  Robert Queen had been a hard man and nothing that he had done had ever garnered the praise that he so desperately craved.  So, he acted out.  Flunked out of every Ivy League school that his father had paid is way into.  He didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew that he was not cut out to run QC.

It was only on that fated trip to Russia that he had been taken in the man’s confidence that he was actually a member of the Russian mob.  The Bratva. The night before the crash, Robert Queen had confided in him that it wasn’t only QC that he would be taking over, but it would be his spot in the Bratva in Starling City.  He had also confided that a cancer had taken over the Bratva in Starling City.  A new Captain had been announced and that man had plans to dismantle the city as it stood.  Robert Queen had objected, but his was a minor role in the mob and his concerns had been overlooked.

The next day, Robert Queen was dead and Oliver Queen was stranded in the frozen tundra of Siberia.  After five long years away, he had discovered that no one in Russian knew who the supposed Bratva Captain that his father had mentioned and the Bratva had denied any responsibility for the crash.  So, now he was back in Starling City, a changed man, looking to find out what secrets the city held.

When they finally arrived at the hospital, he held on to his temper as they did a complete physical on him, asking him multiple times about the multitude of scars that crisscrossed his torso. He refused to answer any of those questions.  Finally, two hours after it begun the physical was over and he was pronounced in good health (understatement, he was in the best shape of his life), but with scar tissue that comprised twenty percent of his body.  As he was getting dressed, his mother finally was allowed in the room.  She entered in a flurry of tears and hugs.

“Oh, Oliver,” Moira Queen said as she held the tears back and wrapped him in her arms.  “My boy, I am so glad that you are alive.”

“Hello, Mother,” he responded, turning in her arms. 

She gasped as she saw his Bratva tattoo.  _“Что, черт возьми, произошло с тобой?”_

“Я присоединился к семейному бизнесу,” he responded as he buttoned up his shirt.

Moira sniffed lightly.  “We never wanted this for you,” she said softly.  “You were not meant to join this business.  Robert always said that he was going to keep you and Thea out of this.”

Oliver just shrugged.  “He was murdered, Mother.  That is not something that I can take lightly.  Heads will roll and I will take control of the Bratva in Starling City,” he responded flatly.

She recoiled slightly at his tone and looked into his eyes, realizing in an instant that her fun loving son had changed dramatically.  Slowly, she nodded.  “Then I will support you, but I just ask that you keep Thea out of this.”

Oliver shook his head.  “She deserves to know.  With my rank…the whole family will need to be aware of what is going on and what steps they need to take for protection,” he said lowly, understanding from his time away that stepping into a Captain role in the Bratva was stepping into the limelight.  Other members of the Bratva would be looking to him, especially since he was one of the handful of non-Russian born men to have the rank.

“But,” Moira started, but she broke off as the sound of heels clacking in the hallway.

“Ollie!”

He smiled a sad smile, at the sight of his baby sister all grown up.  He had lost five years of watching her grow and become a woman.  Now, here she was, on the cusp of womanhood, looking so much like the Thea he knew, but completely different.  Without hesitation, he opened his arms as she flew into them, shaking with repressed emotions. 

“I’m so happy you’re alive,” she whispered into his shirt.

“Me too, Speedy.  Me, too,” he whispered right back into her hair.  He felt her take a fortifying breath, before she drew away from him, flashing a typical Queen family public smile.  “Let’s get you home.”

“Lead the way,” he replied as he grabbed his jacket. 

Thea led the way out of the room, but Moira put her hand on his arm briefly.  “There are some things we need to discuss when we get back to the manor.”

#

Felicity followed the news religiously over the weekend.  Watching for news of when Oliver Queen would return to Starling City.  Once she got the confirmation that he would arrive early Monday morning, she began to hack every website, every server that she could think of.  As Ash had told her, the Russian servers were a dead end.  They were every bit surprised as the rest of the world, which surprised her since she had video proof that the man had been in Moscow eight months prior.  She went back to review the security footage that they had found, but it was no longer there.  Obliterated, really.  She could find no trace of the footage or of any near that location that matched what she had downloaded.

After striking out with the Russians, she tried once again to infiltrate the known Bratva servers, but could get no farther than underground black market websites.  She felt a reluctant admiration for the Bratva computer tech that was responsible for their cyber security.  Instead, she made plans to see if she could get someone into Hunt Multinational to try to hack in from there.  She was just typing up her report when her computer pinged, letting her know that the plane carrying Oliver Queen had landed.  Checking the schedule that she had gotten from the QC servers (you would think that Moira Queen would know better than to send a supposedly private schedule through email), she quickly hacked into the hospital to get a real time update on the doctor’s findings.

Once that was done, she hit one on her speed dial and waited for Ash to pick up.

 _“DC Morgue.  You kill ‘em, we chill ‘em,”_ Ash answered.

“Does that ever get boring, Ash?” Felicity greeted him with a giggle. 

_“Nope.  What’s up, Smoak?”_

“Nada, right now.  I’ve got searches running for the recently deceased man, but I’ve still come up with bupkis.  Time for plan B.”

_“You need someone inside Hunt Multinational.”_

“Yep.  I’m sending you an email now, so hopefully we can get someone inside so that I can piggyback off of their servers to get into the Bratva servers.”

_“Vendler has been preparing for this.  She was just waiting for you to cry uncle.  I’ll be on the next plane out.”_

Felicity felt her eyebrows raise.  Vendler must be serious if she was sending Ash, who was only second to herself in hacking abilities, to Starling City as well.  “You staying with me or are we keeping this at an I don’t know you/you don’t know me game?”

 _“We don’t know each other.  We want to protect your identity as much as possible and I’ll only be in town a week a most.  That way, if my cover somehow gets blown, you will still be in play.  Vendler also wanted to say that she is sending a few agents along as well.  Don’t know who, so don’t ask, but they want someone with_ other _skills in town if you need help.  This could get out of control very quickly.  And expect a call from her soon.  Got anything else for me?”_

“Nope.  I’ll keep you up-to-date on anything I find out.  Just let me know when you’re going be in, and oh, when you’re here, you have to try a Big Belly Burger.  They are just amazing.”

 _“Will do.  Later!”_ Ash said before hanging up.

Felicity let out a heavy sigh as she hung up.  _This just keeps getting better and better,_ she thought as she began to crawl through all of the news reports to see if she could find any more information on Adam Hunt to help Ash out when he got into town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...what'd ya think???
> 
> Okay, first off. I do not speak Russian and the one person that I know that speaks Russian is not available to proofread for me. All of these translations are from Google translate, so if you are a native Russian speaker and these are wrong, please let me know and I will correct them!!!!
> 
> Edit....Thank you to nerrisdk for the updated translations!
> 
> Что, черт возьми, произошло с тобой? – What in the hell happened to you?  
> Я присоединился к семейному бизнесу.– I joined the family business.
> 
> Also, poll time. I know that I am bringing at least 2 characters in as CIA. Who do you want to see? I know for sure that Tommy will not be either Bratva or CIA and I do want a male and female CIA agent. There is one catch though. I cannot have both Dig and Roy as CIA. One or the other. :) Since this is a few chapters away...I want y'alls thoughts on who you'd like to see. :)
> 
> Next chapter should be up in a couple of days at most, but I want to get a few chapters ahead in writing so I can start updating consistently every couple of days.
> 
> Thanks for reading and reviewing!!


	4. Welcome to the Family Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver finds out more about his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I cannot even tell you how happy I am that y'all are enjoying this. It makes me smile each time I see a new review or more kudos/favs pop up. :) I do have chapter 5 finished and am about halfway through chapter 6, so I'm trying to get at least 4-5 chapters ahead so I can go back and reread to eliminate any errors (since I have no beta as of now). The Russian translations in the end notes are courtesy of nerrisdk! Thank you so much for continuing to read the insane story my brain has concocted!!

When the limo finally pulled up in front of Queen Manor, Oliver let out a sigh of relief.  He knew that he would need to sweep for any and all bugs prior to having any conversations with his mother about what changes were coming now that they were firmly ensconced in the Bratva life.  But first, he simply wanted to enjoy being home and seeing all the things that he never knew that he missed.  They exited the car, but he took his time walking to the house, instead, he looked around at the grounds, still perfectly manicured until the tree line and listened to the familiar sounds of the animals of the forest.  The manor itself was still an imposing stone structure, covered in moss, but it was home and it made his tightness in his chest ease at the sight of it.

He followed silently as Thea chattered away about movies, music and TV shows that he had missed in the prior five years, taking in the information for future reference.  He was grateful that when he walked into the foyer, that nothing had changed.  It was still warm woods and imposing grandeur.  It was a room that was meant to intimidate and awe those coming by, but it was home to him.  The foyer was made better when he spotted the older woman waiting for them.  “Raisa,” he greeted the woman warmly.

“Mr. Oliver, it is good to see you,” Raisa return as he gave her a hug.

_“Приятно, наконец, быть дома, бабушка,”_ he said quietly into her ear of the woman who had been more of a mother figure in his childhood than his own.

She started at the sound of his perfect accent.  _“Когда ты выучил русский, внук?”_

Oliver laughed as he pulled away.  “It was an interesting five years, Raisa.  Could I trouble you to make blinis tomorrow morning?”

Raisa smiled widely.  “Oh, Mr. Oliver, I would love to make you some blinis for tomorrow.  Now, shoo and go spend time with your family.  They have been much happier since news that you had survived came to us.”

Oliver nodded and looked back to Thea and Moira.  “Thea?  When did you get all grown up?”

Thea laughed.  “It just happened one day.  I woke up and looked like this.  Very painless puberty.”

Moira scoffed, but with a smile on her face.  “Painless for you maybe, but not for anyone else in this household.  The temper tantrums, the crush every other week on a new boy.  Trust me when I say, it wasn’t painless.”  Moira smiled.  “I think she has given her teachers more heart attacks than you did, Oliver.  I never thought _that_ would happen.”

“Speedy Queen, the hell raiser,” Oliver returned. 

“Damn straight.  You and Tommy left a legacy at Starling Prep that I felt I had to live up to.  It wasn’t easy, but now when you mention the Queen name, teachers look back on your tenure at the school in fondness instead of exasperation.”

“Speaking of school, don’t you have at term paper due tomorrow that you put off working on?” Moira said trying to be subtle in her effort to speak with Oliver alone.  “If you go work on that, I will take Oliver on a tour of the new improvements that gardener has seen fit to grace us with in the last five years.  I’m sure he’ll be amazed by our award winning roses.”

“Not really subtle, Mom,” Thea said, but she nodded.  “But, I know that there are business issues you need to review with him and since I do not want to be part of QC when I grow up, I’ll leave that to you two.”  Thea turned, flipping her long brown hair over her shoulder before quickly jogging up the stairs.

Moira sighed.  “I used to be better at that.”

“She used to be younger,” Oliver replied.  “I did like the suggestion of seeing the grounds, though.”  He held out his arm and once Moira took it, they walked outside to the rose garden and the fountain that was the center of it to settle down on the bench installed there by his father.  “You knew that Dad was Bratva.”

“From the time we met.  We didn’t exactly tell you and Thea the truth about our marriage.  I was the daughter of an Irish Mob enforcer, who saved the life of a Bratva.  In turn, that Bratva offered an alliance with the Irish Mob to my father, but only if I were to marry into a Bratva family.  An accord was held and it was decided that I would marry into the Queen family.  Robert had recently become a _Vor_ , so it made sense to use my father’s connections to help out the Bratva.  In return, my father and his slice of the Irish Mob got protections from the Italian Mafia in their business interests.”

Oliver felt like he had been slapped upside the head by a board.  “How…”

Moira chuckled.  “We never wanted you to know, dear.  Neither of us were happy with the decisions that had been made for us.  I railed at my father for days, but to no avail.  Three months after we were formally introduced, your father and I were married.  The two mobs chose Starling City for us to live in.  There was already a decent sized Bratva presence, but none for the Italians or for the Irish.  It was understood that if any of the Irish Mob followed me to Starling, they would be playing by Bratva rules.  As for my family, back in Boston, they would gain a powerful ally to help protect their interest from the Italians that were encroaching on their territory.

“We didn’t have an easy first few years of marriage.  We could barely stand the sight of one another, but eventually, familial pressures to have an heir went from vague references to flat out ultimatums, so we came to an accord.  We became friends and once you were born, it just strengthened our friendship.  We tried our hardest to keep both you and Thea out of the life, but it was all for not.  Now here you are, back from the dead, an _Avtoritet_ in the Bratva.”

“Bratva saved my life,” Oliver said simply.

Moira smiled a sad smile.  “There is no need to explain.  I understand the sacrifices that one must make when you have this life.”  She patted his arm.  “I miss him, more than I thought I would.  We weren’t in love, but we were best friends.  There will always be a Robert shaped hole in my life.  I just don’t understand why the Bratva would kill him, but save you.”

Oliver sighed, looking up at the waning sunlight.  “Bratva didn’t kill Dad.  I don’t know who did, but I took this rank to find out and destroy whomever it was.  In order to do that, I need you to guide me through the structure here.”

“I will do my best, but we have time for that.  There are a few other things that you need to know.  Do you remember Walter Steele?  He was Robert’s CFO at QC?”  When Oliver nodded, she bit her lip.  “After Robert’s death, he took over as CEO.  And, we also married three years ago.”

A wave of shock shot through Oliver’s body at the new revelation that Moira was revealing.  He took a deep breath before asking, “Do you love him?”

“Yes.”

“Is he part of any mob?”

She shook her head.  “No.  He is the one responsible for cutting the remaining ties with the Bratva at QC.  My contacts in Boston said that the government were getting close to tying us to the Bratva, so we staged a strategic retreat.”

“So, he is aware of the family business?”

Moira nodded.  “I have no secrets from Walter.”

“Good.  That will make it easier.  I need to get QC back in line with the Bratva and it will be easier if I have Walter on my side.  I still want him to be CEO, since I don’t think that I will be able to balance both roles just yet.”

Moira nodded.  “I don’t know how he will react to QC getting involved with the mob again.  He doesn’t like it, but he accepted it since he loves me.”

Oliver sighed.  “I can’t afford not to.  There is something going on in Starling City, something that someone is trying to pin on the Bratva.  I need to find them and what it is.”

“They’re responsible for your father’s death, aren’t they?”

He shrugged.  “I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that he was killed and it was framed to look like a Bratva hit.  Someone wanted the Bratva in Starling out of the way.  What better way than to kill one of its _Vor_?”

“Mom?  Ollie?” Thea’s voice called out.

“We’ll talk more later,” Moira said as she stood.  “We’re over here, Thea.”

Both of them stood as Thea walked into the clearing.  “Raisa said that dinner will be ready soon and Tommy is looking for you Ollie.”

Oliver nodded and began to walk out of the garden, fluffing Thea’s hair as he walked by.  “By all means then I shouldn’t keep him waiting.”  He nodded to Moira as he began to walk back towards the house, unexpectedly nervous to see his best friend after five years.

He choose to go in the side door and he found Tommy waiting for him.  His best friend lit up with a smile before walking over and grabbing him in a hug.  Oliver tensed, but soon relaxed enough to hug him back.  “Tommy Merlyn.  It’s good to see you, buddy.”

“What did I tell you?  Siberia sucks.”

Oliver chuckled.  “What’s new with you?”

“Eh.  Not much.  Living the dream.  Girls and parties every night.”

“Still not talking with your Dad, huh?”

“He’s around.  He doesn’t as much talk to me as talk at me these days.”

“That sucks, man.  Take it from me.  Don’t let your differences tear you apart.  You never know what will happen.”

Tommy looked at him for a moment, wondering where his fun-loving, hell-raising friend had gone.  Finally he nodded.  “I’ll take that under advisement.”

“Mr. Oliver?  Dinner is ready.”

“Thank you, Raisa.  We’ll be right in.  Tommy will be joining us for dinner.”

Raisa smiled and nodded, knowing that she had already set an extra plate on the table.

“Thank god.  Raisa is a wonderful cook and I miss her food,” Tommy said with a smile as he slung an arm around Oliver to walk to the dining room together.  “So, you missed so much while you were away.”

“So, tell me what I missed,” Oliver said as he sat down at the head of the table and waited for the rest of the family to arrive.  They didn’t have to wait long, Tommy was just giving him a rundown of last five Superbowl winners when Moira, Thea and Walter walked in.

Moira sat as the food of the table, with Walter on her right.  Thea sat across from Tommy in the center of the table.  Oliver smiled at Raisa as she served them the first course.

“So, Walter.  How are things at QC?” he asked.

The older black man smiled at him.  “They have been well the last few years,” he responded in his cultured British voice.  “It was touch and go when word of the plane crash initially broke.  The board was understandable nervous about the direction the company would be going without its leader at the helm, however Moira convinced me to step in as interim CEO.  The board accepted that and with the changes in focusing on our Applied Sciences division, they managed to convince me to make the change permanent.  Moira was telling me that you are interested in coming to work for the company?”

Oliver nodded.  “Yes.  I know that I never wanted to work at QC prior to the crash, but the last five years have taught me much about surviving and I want to honor Dad’s legacy.”

“Your father would be proud of you,” Walter said simply.  “After dinner, why don’t we retire to the study to go over a plan to introduce you to the company?  We shouldn’t move to suddenly, the board is still a little weary of any changes, but I think over the next few months we can get you installed there.”

“Good, Oliver is mine tomorrow.  We need to plan his “back from the dead” party,” Tommy interjected with a smile.  “Alcohol and hot women.  That’s all we need to make it a party.”

Thea groaned from across the table.  “Ya know, Tommy.  I really thought your frat days were behind you.”

Tommy laughed.  “Trust me, Speedy.  Frat days are never behind the two of us.”

Thea just shot a look to Oliver.  “It’s okay, Speedy.  It’ll be fun,” Oliver reassured her.  He needed to keep up appearances and a good time with Tommy was always a good distraction from what he was really feeling.  “Why don’t you tell me about some of your escapades at Starling Prep that have put Tommy and I out of the teachers minds?”

Thea nodded with a smile on her face and began to tell them stories of the various pranks she had pulled.  As Oliver listened to her, part of his mind was already compartmentalizing exactly what he needed to do to ensure that the control of the Bratva in the city was his and to find his father’s killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Russian translations:
> 
> Приятно, наконец, быть дома, бабушка.– It is good to be home, grandma.
> 
> Когда ты выучил русский, внук? – When did you learn Russian, grandson?
> 
> Vor – This is the Bratva version of a made man (at least according to Wikipedia).
> 
> Avtoritet – (again from Wikipedia) - Brigadier – or Avtoritet ("Authority"), is like a captain in charge of a small group of men, similar to Caporegime in Italian-American Mafia crime families and Sicilian Mafia clans. He gives out jobs to Boeviks ("warriors") and pays tribute to Pakhan. He runs a crew which is called a Brigade (Bratva). A Brigade is made up of 5–6 Boyeviks and Shestyorkas. There are four Brigadiers running criminal activity in the Russian Bratva.
> 
> Also...there is still time to give me your opinion of which characters should be Bratva or CIA!!


	5. Infrastructure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Walter talk and then Oliver gets a feel for the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So after some excitement yesterday, I did decide that I was going to post every 2 to 3 days. I'm getting about half a chapter written a day, so that gives me some leeway if I need it. As for the excitement, here it is: I live in Texas and for some reason we keep getting earthquakes. Seriously, something like 12 in 24 hours. I live in TEXAS. This should so not be happening. I would rather deal with tornadoes than earthquakes. lol. 
> 
> Anyway, no reviews for last chapter? I'm wondering what everyone thinks about me making Moira part of the Irish Mob...But thanks for all the kudos and favs! Those emails really do put a smile on my face. This the last chapter for now that will be completely Oliver centric - I'm going to be flipping back and forth between him and Felicity for a bit. They do meet in chapter 7, so y'all will have that to look forward too!
> 
> As always (for now), I have no beta, so any mistakes are mine and mine alone. Please let me know if you see anything that needs to be corrected!

After dinner was over, Thea kissed Oliver on the cheek and told him to have fun.  Tommy just shot him a grin as he looked.  “Tomorrow is going to be…wait for it…legendary.”  He laughed and then stopped.  “Oh, wait.  You might not get that reference yet.  You need to watch _How I Met Your Mother_ , so put that on your to-do list.  I’ll see you tomorrow, man.”

“Bye, Tommy,” Oliver responded before walking in the study to find Walter and Moira waiting.  He held up his hand to prevent them from talking, while he pulled out a small device.  Setting it on the desk, he nodded.  “We can talk now.  I haven’t had a chance to check the manor for any listening devices, so this will block them for now.”

“Listening devices?” Moira questioned.

“I’ve learned to take many precautions, Mother.  I don’t know if there are any, but with what we are about to discuss, I think it is for the best.  Have you filled Walter in?”

“Just the basics,” Moira responded.

Oliver nodded before focusing his attention on the man.  “Walter, I understand that you may not like this, but I have to ask if you are willing to work with me and the Bratva.”

Walter studied the man, who was so different and more serious than he had ever seen him.  “Before I agree to anything, I need to know more specifics.  Exactly what do you intend for QC?  I don’t want to do anything to put any lives on the line.  I will not be part of any murder plots.”

Oliver felt the corner of his mouth quirk up.  “Trust me when I say, I don’t plan on murdering anyone that does not deserve it and that will certainly be kept separate from this part of my life.  Mainly, we needed to begin doing business with companies that are shells for Bratva activities in Russia.  I have a new list of companies that should not raise red flags with the feds.  Also, I will be seeking out men for my Brigade that will need employment cover stories.”

“I would be willing to see if I can find places for these men, provided they have skills that are useful to QC.”

“Good.  Also, it is my understanding that the IT department at QC has been substandard until recently.  What has changed?”

Walter looked shocked at the question.  “I’m not sure how you knew that, but approximately nine months ago, we hired on a new cyber security specialist.”

Oliver nodded.  “I find it highly questionable that the cyber security was lacking by oversight.  I want an intense review of each employee in IT to identify any possible leaks.  Once we are done with IT, then I want each department to undergo the same scrutiny.  Once you have cleared the new IT specialist, I want to see if the man will work with us on setting up security here at the manor.  I do not take the safety of my family lightly and I want the best.”

Walter nodded and smiled.  “I believe I can set up a meeting with our specialist, whether you hire her or not, will be up to you.  Felicity Smoak is…a unique person.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow.  “Get me her information and I will run it with my associates in Russia.  I want to make sure that she is clean prior to employing her to work directly for me.”  When Walter nodded, he continued, “Do you have any reservations or concerns that you want to talk to me about?”

Walter smiled.  “No.  The business world is full of unsavory characters and Moira has been more than open with me about her past associations with both the Bratva and the Irish Mob.  I am not naïve enough to think that with those connections that this particular situation would not have come up.  As long as I have plausible deniability then I believe that this will be a profitable relationship.”  He rose.  “Now, if you will excuse me, I will go prepare for tomorrow.  I do ask that you give it a few days before you come to QC so that I can find the perfect position for you.”

“I understand that with my prior lack of interest in working there that it might take a while before people accept me, so take your time.  I have a few other things that I need to set up in the city,” Oliver said as he rose as well.  He held out his hand for Walter to shake.  “Thank you, Walter.  For being so understanding of the changes that are happening.”

Walter glanced at Moira, the love clear in his eyes.  “I will see you in the morning, Oliver.  Have a good evening.”

“I will be up shortly, Walter,” Moira said as she watched him leave.

Oliver waited until the door closed.  “I need to know any Bratva that are still in the city.”

Moira nodded.  “I do not know much.  I stayed out of the Bratva side of the business and instead I focused on anything that was coming from Boston.  The person that you need to speak with is Alexi Leonov.  He is the only _Boevik_ in Starling City.  He has a garage that is his cover in the Glades.”

Oliver nodded.  “That was what I was looking for.  From what I know, the Bratva in Starling have been suffering a lot in the last five years.  I need to ensure that they are a cohesive unit again.  That means that I will be bringing in new members or members from other Brigades to beef up the security.  Once I am done with that, we will talk again about letting Thea know what is going on.  I don’t feel right keeping this from her.”

Moira sighed.  “I understand.  I don’t want her involved, but if we can at least wait until her eighteenth birthday, then that will be better.”

Oliver nodded.  “Also, for now, please do not discuss any business without a jammer in place.  I want to completely inspect the house and find any bugs that might be in play, but I don’t want to deactivate them until I know for sure who placed them.  It’s a useful way to plant false information.”

“That is something that your father did as well,” Moira said with a smile.  “I should head up to bed.  If I don’t see you in the morning, have fun with Tommy tomorrow.  Good night.”

“Good night, mother,” Oliver said before picking up the jammer and walking to his own room to try and sleep.

#

Oliver only slept a few hours, but he had learned that he could sleep less these days.  One thing his time away had taught his, it was how to maximize the efficiency of sleep.  He rarely tossed and turned after he had trained himself to drop into REM sleep within moments of closing his eyes.  As a result, he was wide awake at four a.m. 

No one else in the house was awake yet, so he chose to go into the library to put together a couple of lists to help organize himself on what he needed to do.  Going to work for QC was a process that was going to take months to put into play, but he to find a way to generate income for the Bratva in the meantime.  That meant, his first stop would be to Alexi Leonov.  The one thing he didn’t want to do was step on any toes before he had the manpower to handle any threats.

With the information that his father had given him prior to his death, he wasn’t sure how much trust he could put in the Bratva in Starling.  He still needed to find out the mystery Captain that the Russians had no clue about.  That his second priority.  Once he had established himself and if he could get the cyber security specialist on board, he would break down every barrier it took to find the person his father was referring to.

Once the sun finally rose, he dressed in a pair of jeans and gray Henley before grabbing a baseball cap.  He hoped he was leaving early enough to avoid Thea, since he didn’t want to explain where he was going.  Thankfully, the manor was quiet when he made his way downstairs and he grabbed a helmet and the keys to his motorcycle.

Thirty minutes later, he was pulling into a rundown part of the Glades.  He parked a couple of blocks away from the auto repair shop and after tugging the baseball cap down low over his eyes, he walked the final distance.  When he opened the shop, he pulled the cap off and stuck it in his back pocket and walked over to the two men speaking lowly in Russian.

“Я ищу Алексея Леонова,” he said as he caught their attention.

The older bald man looked at him.  “Здесь нет никого с таким именем.”

“Не в вашем гараже.”  Oliver just looked unimpressed as he walked over to the lift holding up an engine block.  “В подвале снизу.”

The man shared a look with the tall man under the engine, who ducked under the lift and withdrew a gun.  Oliver watched as he approached him before quickly grabbing the gun and twisting the man’s wrist, causing him to drop to the ground with a groan.  He took the gun from the man’s hand and quickly disassembled it, before pulling his shirt to the side to show the men his Bratva tattoo.  “Я Братва,” he told them with a hint of menace in his tone.  “Я хочу видеть Алексея Леонова.”

The bald man stepped forward and gave him a small bow.  “Pleased to meet you,” he said before gesturing for Oliver to follow him to a set of hidden stairs in the office. Once they were walking down the stairs the man continued, “I apologize.  We meant no disrespect to a Captain.  Particularly an American one.  We take our safety very importantly.”

“I understand your caution,” Oliver returned calmly.

“So, how can I be of assistance?”

“I am trying to determine where to put my interests.  I have it on good authority that you are the best person to help me determine the most lucrative investments, without stepping on other people’s territories until I am established.”

“First, we will drink to each other’s health,” Alexei said as he poured two shots of vodka.  “Then I will see what I can do to assist you.  I will also confirm that you are really Bratva Captain.  If not, I will send my…mechanic…to kill you and your family.”

Oliver just nodded as he drank the shot.  “I look forward to doing business with you,” he said before turning to leave.  Once outside, he walked back to his bike, parked in from of the old manufacturing plant that his father had closed prior to the trip.  The building was clearly abandoned, and probably a safe spot for the homeless to sleep, but it made him think of a club he had been to in Moscow, which had a heavy industrial theme.  He slipped through the fence and made his way into the building. 

He looked at the wide open space and high ceilings, before walking around to find the basement.  What he found made him smile.  It would be the perfect cover, much like the Bratva garage.  All Bratva activity could take place in the basement, which had a separate entrance on the side, while the club would provide income from above.  Nodding to himself, he pulled out his phone to see if Moira had a good contractor that she could recommend to do the work for him.

_So far, so good._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Russian Translations courtesy of nerrisdk!!  
> Я ищу Алексея Леонова. – I am looking for Alexei Leonov.  
> Здесь нет никого с таким именем. – There's no one here by that name.  
> Не в вашем гараже. В подвале снизу. Not in your garage. In the basement below.  
> Я Братва. – I'm Bratva.  
> Я хочу видеть Алексея Леонова. – I want to see Alexei Leonov.  
> I’m looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks!!!!


	6. Some Assembly Required

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Oliver tries to emulate his old ways and Felicity's soul hurts at the sight of a computer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! We get Felicity's POV again. :) One more chapter before Oliver and Felicity finally meet.
> 
> Thanks for all the review, kudos and favs! They've really inspired the must.
> 
> I did read this through a couple of times, but if you see any errors please let me know.

Oliver pulled nervously at his cuffs as he got ready for the party that Tommy was throwing for him.  With his new hyperawareness, the thought of being surround by hundreds of people drinking made him understandably nervous.  He needed to keep up his appearance though.  He knew that he would need to start slowly pulling away from the playboy personae that everyone associated with him, but he also needed that in place to keep his other priorities secret.  It was a fine line that he would need to draw.

Finally, he took a deep breath and studied himself in the mirror before nodding his head in satisfaction.  He walked down the stairs to find Walter waiting for him.  “Oliver,” he greeted him.

Oliver nodded.  “Walter.”

“Felicity Smoak has been cleared by two different independent sources.  She’s clean.  I have sent all of the information to your phone so your associates can also do their own check as well.”

“Perfect.  Thank you, Walter.”

“She’s a nice girl, Oliver.  Be careful.”

Oliver understood the warning that Walter was conveying.  “I need to get going.”

“Have a good time at Tommy’s party.  He still knows how to throw them according to the papers.”

Oliver just chuckled as he walked out the door to the fire engine red Porshe 911 that had been his pride and joy before.  He ran his hand lightly over the body of the car, reminiscing about the trouble that it had gotten him into.  It was the perfect car for his playboy cover.  After settling in, he cranked the engine, listening to it purr as he sent the information about one Felicity Smoak to his contacts to look into.  Someone had made sure the car stayed in pristine condition during the last five years.  Smiling, he shifted it into gear and flew down the driveway. 

The drive to the site of Tommy’s party, a warehouse in downtown Starling, took a shorter time that he wanted.  It had felt good to let loose on the open road again, but it was a Tommy party, so that meant it was already in full swing.  He walked in to loud music (which he didn’t recognize) and scantily clad women.  Alcohol was already flowing freely and by the loose-limbed way some of the people were grinding on the dancefloor, there were already more than a few people that would not be able to drive home.

“Ollie!” he heard Tommy yell over the music.  “Welcome to your party man.  It’s gonna be a crazy night, already.”

Oliver just shook his head as he accepted the shot glass in Tommy’s hand.  “It’s good to be back, buddy,” he said before quickly drinking, grimacing slightly at the taste of the tequila.  “Hit me again,” he said as he put on the playboy façade, determined to keep his cover in place.

#

The days following Oliver Queen’s return were busy for Felicity and the rest of the IT department.  Word from the executive level came down for a full on system analysis of their security protocols, which Felicity almost snorted at.  If they had only done that three years ago, the IT department wouldn’t have been in the state it had been in when she starting working here.  She knew that this kind of keep level analysis should be taking place on at most an annual basis.  She would recommend semi-annually to be safe, especially with the rapidly changing methods of hacking.  She also noticed several pings to her background that she had set up to cover her employment with the CIA and wondered what had been discovered to cause such an in depth scrutiny.  She was understandably nervous when a full week had passed and she got a message to report to Walter Steele’s office.

As she rode up the elevator, she cursed that she had not worn heels that day, but with the amount of walking she was doing to investigate the security of each computer in QC, heels had been out of the question lately.  Still, she wanted to have the sense of polish, of power that the heels represented.  Instead, she was in a simple white button down and black skirt.  When he got off the elevator, she noticed that the offices were empty and dark, excepting Mr. Steele’s office.  Even his executive assistant was gone for the day.  _Huh.  I didn’t realize it was so late.  Okay, Smoak.  Time to play your character up._

She pushed open the glass door.  “Okay.  I have one question.  Why am I being fired?”

Mr. Steele raised his head from the folder he was reviewing.  “Ms. Smoak, isn’t it?”

“Yes and I am without a doubt the single most valuable member of your technical division.  That’s including my so-called supervisor,” she rambled, complete with air quotes.  “Letting me go would be a major error for this company.”

Mr. Steele closed the folder and laid it on his desk.  “I agree.  That is why you are not being fired.”

“Uh, I assumed when you brought me up here, it was because…” she trailed off as she drew her right hand across her neck with a hiss.

“Instead,” he continued, “I wish to offer you a project to help upgrade the security at Queen Manor.  After Oliver’s return, we have some concerns about paparazzi compromising the systems in place there and wish to ensure the privacy of the family during this time.”

“Oh.  Uh.  Yeah.  Of course I can do that.  I’m your girl,” Felicity said as she held back her excitement.  She was hoping to get some good intel from the systems that were set into place at the manor.  Maybe some information that could lead to why the plane crashed in the first place.  Neither she nor Agent Vendler ever believed that it was simply mechanical failure and now she had a chance to try to investigate to her heart’s content.  “When would you like this to happen?”

“At your earliest convenience?  Say Saturday?  We will pay you overtime as well.”

“Um.  I’m salaried.”

“Then a good meal, then.  I will have my driver pick you up at nine on Saturday morning.”

Felicity nodded.  “Thank you for the opportunity.”

“I believe in rewarding our best employees.  It tends to make them stay,” he said with a smile.  “Now, I must get back to these financial reports.”

“Of course, Mr. Steele.”  She recognized the dismissal for what it was and quickly turned to leave the office.  “Oh and I didn’t mean to imply that I was making a pass at you.  Thank you for not firing me!” she called out as she hurriedly left the office, excitement fluttering in her chest.

When she got back to her cubicle, she quickly finished up the reports that she was working on and shut down her system for the night, knowing that she needed to fill in Vendler of what was going on.  She only felt comfortable doing that from the privacy and security of her own system.

#

Saturday morning broke with beautiful cloudless blue skies.  Oliver grunted as the sun shone in his eyes, waking him only four hours after he had gone to bed.  _Why didn’t I pull the curtains?_   Even as he was thinking it, the answer came to him.  Today was the day that the cyber security specialist was coming.  He knew that he was going to have to tread carefully around her, try to keep her out of the Bratva side of the business. 

Walter’s cover story was that they needed to upgrade their security to keep the paparazzi threat to a minimum, but he also wanted to know exactly how good this woman was.  Usually the best cyber security people were recruited by the government prior to even leaving school.  It was unusual that she had been not.  _Not interested in the government could mean that she could suit my purposes.  I will need to see how well she reacts to surprises._

With that in mind, he planned to keep out of sight until an opportune moment presented himself.  He smirked as an idea came to him and with the plan forming, he quickly grabbed the new laptop he had gotten for himself and walked out of the room.

Meanwhile, Felicity had been wide awake for hours.  Agent Vendler had told her to make the most of the time that she had access to any and all information in the Queen household.  They needed any information that could link the Bratva to the death of Robert Queen.  She carefully selected her outfit for the day, a black skirt and pink shirt.  After taking a shower, she threw her hair back into a ponytail and was ready with ten minutes to spare.  Ten minutes she spent giving herself a pep talk about how she was just going to be hacking one of the richest families in the country.  _I’m not even a field agent,_ half of her cried out.  _Stop it.  You are Felicity Smoak.  Daughter of a Las Vegas cocktail waitress.  If you can get the hell out of Vegas, then you can do any damn thing that you put your mind to,_ the other half instructed her.  She decided to believe the other half.

At exactly nine, there was a knock on the door.  She grabbed her keys and bag of various pieces of computer equipment and with one more fortifying breath, opened the door and began her journey to the Queen mansion.  It was a quiet drive and she felt like she was riding in the lap of luxury with the butter soft leather seats in the Bentley. After passing the wrought iron gates, it was another five minute drive up the tree-lined road before the car slid to a stop in front of the imposing stone mansion.

“Wow,” she said as the driver walked around to open the door.  She grabbed her purse and the bag that she had refused to let the man touch.  As she straightened, she found Mr. Steele standing in front of her.  “You have a really, really nice home.  I mean, of course you do.  This is the Queens were talking about, practically American royalty.  Ha, that’s funny.  Last name Queen, and they are…” she trailed off as she realized exactly how much she was rambling.  “Sorry.  Where do you want me to set up?  I also will need access to whatever central system you have so I can run diagnostics to determine if the paps have tried to hack in.”

Walter gestured to the front door.  “Please follow me.”

Felicity would say later that she did pay attention to where she was going, but in truth, she was overwhelmed by the grandeur of the furnishing.  _It really is fit for royalty.  Hopefully, their security is as up to date._   Her hopes and dreams were dashed mere moments later when she was led down into a windowless basement.  She looked at the computer equipment in horror.  It was ancient, or at least in computer technology terms.  It didn’t look like it had been upgraded since the plane crash.  “Oh my.”

“Just let me know if you need anything.  There is a phone by the computer and the extension to my office is 1212.”

Felicity just shook her head and she moved towards the computer, her soul actually hurting at the fact that this family was stuck in the naughts.  “Um, yeah.  Once my soul recovers from the travesty of this system.  I hope you are willing to shell out some bucks for a new system.  I can build it of course and that’ll save on some of it.  Bonus with that, I can completely trick it out for your needs,” she said absentmindedly as she settled in the uncomfortable chair.

“Just get me a list of what you need, Ms. Smoak.  Money will not be a problem.”

Felicity just waved her hand as he retreated from the room, his smile unseen.  She completely bypassed entering a password and just hacked in to the system instead and then lost herself in in the code.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!!!


	7. Brain to Mouth Filter Disengaged

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I meant to get this up on Monday, however RL and a heavier workload than I had expected delayed this! Sorry!!! 
> 
> It's not time for the long awaited meeting between Felicity and Oliver. I really hope that I managed to get her babbling down properly! Reviews feed my muse, so I'd love to hear what y'all think!!!! (No flames, but constructive criticism is very much welcome!) This is not beta'd, but I've read through it about five times. If you see something, please drop me a line and let me know!

When Oliver got back to the manor, he found Walter in his office chuckling to himself.  He raised an eyebrow as the man, who just wave his hand for Oliver to sit in the chair in front of his desk.  “Did I miss something?”

“Ms. Smoak.  She muttered something about our system being so old that it hurt her soul.  But, she had a point.  I don’t believe that the system has been upgraded since prior to your disappearance.  She has been down there since around ten, but hasn’t called me once.  She offered to build us a system to our specifications.”

“Really.”  Oliver nodded his head slowly.  It would be helpful if they could do that.  It would mean that he could link up with the main Bratva servers in Russia to keep communication as direct as possible.  That gave him some reservations though.  If the woman was able to build something like that, then he would fully have to take her into confidence and everything that he had found out about her indicated she liked to be on right side of the law.  _Leverage.  I would need leverage against her.  I need to speak to Alexei to see if he can recommend someone good to gather intel on her.  Great, I’ll just add that to the never ending list._   “Does she seem to be the type that would startle easily?”

Walter shook his head. 

Oliver smiled.  “Good.  I have a laptop that I want her to look at and after your comments about her feelings on our system, this should be the best test to see how she would react,” he said as he rose from the chair, intent on retrieve the laptop he had purposely spilled a latte on that morning.  This was after downloading a multitude of things to ensure that the computer looked like he was actually using it.

He walked quickly down to the basement where the computer equipment was, a room that he hadn’t even thought about in years.  He really had no memories of that room, it hadn’t been interesting enough for him as a teenager and with only one person down their monitoring the security feeds it had not been amusing enough as a child.  He grabbed the laptop from the table he had left it on and walked into the room to find a blonde woman muttering to herself, completely unware of his presence.  He cleared his throat.  “Felicity Smoak?” he asked, causing her to turn around.  “Hi.  I’m Oliver Queen.”

She took the red pen that she was chewing on out of her mouth.  “Of course.  I know who you are Mr. Queen,” she said as her mind whirled.  His pictures didn’t do him justice and she was just grateful to whomever had cut his hair, because the longer hair that he’d had five years prior made him look like a boy and he was obviously not a boy any longer.

“No.  Mr. Queen was my father.”

“Right, but he’s dead.  I mean he died, but you didn’t which means you can hire me to help upgrade this antiquated system that probably hasn’t seen even a Microsoft update since 2009, just to listen to me babble.  Which will end in three…two…one.”

He didn’t even fight to keep the smile off his face as he laid the lap top on his desk.  “I’m having some problem with my computer, which I spilled a latte on.”

“Why?” she explained, eyes widened in horror as she saw the obviously fried laptop, the most expensive model on the market.  “Oh my poor baby, what did he do to you?”

“Can you fix it?  I mean, I was downloading some documents to help me get caught up and in the loop at QC, and I would really love to have my version that has all the corrections and highlights on them.”

“Really?  I heard that you were never interested in running QC.  Wasn’t that some sort of running battle between you and your father?”  Felicity felt her eyes widen in shock at the random thought that had just popped out.  “Oh, frak.  I’m sorry.  Please ignore me.  My brain to mouth filter is obviously defective.  You don’t have to answer that question.  I will get this information to you as soon as possible.”

Oliver watched as her face turned bright red before letting out a chuckle.  “I don’t mind.  It’s an understandable reaction.  No, I never wanted to run QC, but I feel I owe it to my father to see if I can live up to his high expectations.”

“You want to honor his memory,” she surmised.

“Yes.”

Felicity nodded.  “Then pull up a chair and give me a few minutes to see if I can recover anything.”

Oliver did just that and watched as she focused on the work, taking the time to really study her.  She didn’t look like any IT person he had ever seen, with the bright pink lipstick drawing attention to her.  The glasses that she wore did nothing to hide her blue eyes, instead drawing his attention to the intelligence that shined through.  He watched as her fingers (nails colored in an eye-popping blue) quickly disassembled the case and she began to hook up various wires to it.

“Well, the good news is you didn’t completely fry the hard drive. I think I can recover all the information.  Do you have an email address you want me to send it to so that you can download it to whatever new computer you get?”

Oliver actually laughed.  “I actually don’t remember the password to my email.”

“Of course not.  Five years is a long time and really to be safe you should change your password every thirty days.  But, that’s not my point.  How about I store it on this computer for now and I can upgrade this one for your personal use, because, yeah.  I’m going to have to start from scratch with this system.  I mean, the security cameras have like the worst resolution to them, so if I’m going to upgrade those, then that means a completely new system.”

“Felicity, breathe.  You obviously know what you are doing, so whatever you think is best.  We want the best security system, so just make it happen.  Money is not an issue.”

Felicity nodded again, trying to figure out why she was babbling so much.  Yes, it was part of the character she had set up, but she hadn’t rambled on random subjects so much since her first few weeks at the CIA.  “Okay.  Yeah, sure.  I can do you…I mean I can do that for you.  Oh my god.  I’m just going to stop talking now.”

Oliver grinned as he watched twin spots of red bloom on Felicity’s cheeks.  “Thank you and I will leave you to your work now.  Just get Walter the list of equipment that you need and we will get it for you.”

Felicity kept her mouth shut as she nodded, not wanting to risk a random word babble again.  She watched as Oliver grinned again before turning and leaving the room.  “Well, that was awkward,” she muttered after the door closed.  She shook her head as she turned back to the computer and the list of equipment that she was compiling to make the Queen’s the best system for them.

#

Oliver couldn’t keep from smiling as he walked back upstairs.  Walter was right.  Felicity Smoak was a very unique person.  He shook his head as he phone buzzed with a text message.  He glanced down and noticed it was Alexei requesting a meeting, so he quickly changed his course for the garage so he could drive down there.

Thirty minutes later, he was pulling up in front of the garage and pulling off his helmet.  After stowing it with the bike, he walked inside to find Alexei and his mechanic waiting for him.  “У тебя есть новости?” he greeted the man.

“Да,” Alexei returned before switching to English.  “I have a name for you.  This man was part of your father’s acquaintances and should prove valuable to you as a resource.”

“Is he clean?”

“I would do nothing to endanger the life of a Captain.  Especially one with such high regard from our Pakhan,” Alexei said as he held out a folded slip of paper.

“Then I thank you and wish you the best health,” Oliver returned before opening the paper.  As he read the name on it, he fought to control his shock.  “This man is truly Bratva?”

“Да.”

“Interesting.  I thank you for the information, but at what price?” he asked, knowing that the Bratva usually worked on a bargaining system.

“Free of charge for the new Captain.”

Oliver inclined his head, not totally surprised at the gesture of good will.  He had been warned that the locate Bratva might be willing to give him some information for free, but he also knew that it was likely that he would be asked for a favor at some point down the road.  He was more than willing to take the gift for what it was and not end up in debt to Alexei prior to getting established.  “Until we meet again,” he said before turning and leaving, his mind spinning.  _Quentin Lance is Bratva?_

When he got on the motorcycle, he knew he wasn’t willing to go home until he’d had a chance to consider all of the possibilities in his mind.  He felt almost as shocked as when his father had told him about the Bratva.  Quentin Lance was a Starling City police detective, one of the best by all counts, but more importantly, he was the father of Laurel Lance.  Oliver’s ex-girlfriend.  The one he broke up with on the tarmac before getting on a jet headed for Russia. 

He had avoided thinking about Laurel since he came back.  He knew that his actions as an immature boy had really hurt Laurel, but the other part of him didn’t want to drag her into this life.  Ever since he’d met her in elementary school, all she had talked about was becoming an attorney to prosecute the criminals.  _Does she know that her father is part of the Russian mob?_   He shook his head slightly as he slowed down for a light, the floodgate of memories opening as he recalled her tear streaked face asking him why he wanted to break up with her.  The Oliver he’d been had only answered that he was too young to be tied down, but looking back he realized that he wasn’t in love with her.  He loved the idea of her.  A beautiful woman who loved him and was willing to put up with his roving eye.  No matter what, Laurel had always taken him back.

He snorted as the light turned green.  _Why did she put up with me?_   That question was one that had plagued him for years.  Laurel could have any man that she wanted.  She was smart and beautiful.  He did not deserve her, then or now.  He also knew that the man he had become would do more harm than good in a romantic relationship with Laurel, especially if she was still willing to put up with the bullshit like she had with him.  _That’s the problem,_ he thought.  _No matter what, she was always willing to put up with any lie that I told.  As a Bratva Captain, I can’t afford that.  Any woman that I eventually end up marrying will have to be someone that is willing to call me out.  That woman will need to be someone that will make me accountable for my actions toward her and Laurel never did._

It was as if a light had come on over his head as he made that realization and he felt some relief at finally putting his relationship with Laurel at rest.  _Now, if can make it through a meeting with her father without bloodshed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Russian Translations. Thank you so much to nerrisdk for the translations! We all know how spotty Google Translate is! :)
> 
> У тебя есть новости? – You have news?  
> Да. - Yes


	8. Coming to an Accord

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo....First off, I apologize for the extremely long wait for this. RL has been a pain in my butt. For those of you in the US, you know that it is tax season and that is the busiest time of year for my job. This one has surprised me with how busy I am. I'm actually working 7 days a week for approximately 70 hours a week and we got hit with sleet, freezing rain and snow. **sigh** I wish I still got paid overtime. :D
> 
> Anyway, I have managed to get chapters 8 and 9 finished and am trying to work on chapter 10 today. I will update chapter 9 at some point this week, but no guarantees on when 10 will be finished! I still have no beta for this, so if you see any major issues, let me know and I will fix them!
> 
> Special thanks to chory, bubu and Pothunter, whose reviews inspired me to try and type up the chapters!!!!
> 
> Thanks for being patient and thanks for reading!!!

When Oliver got home, he found his mother in the conservatory tending to some delicate plants.  He quickly pulled out the jammer as he walked over to her.  “Hello, Mother.  How are the orchids today?” he asked before kissing her cheek.

“They are lovely, Oliver,” Moira responded, eyes flicking down to the jammer in his hand.  “I take it this is not a social visit.”

“No, it’s not.  Was Detective Lance once of Dad’s contacts?”

“How did…never mind.  Alexei told you.  Yes, he was.  Why do you ask?”

“I am looking to establish interests and Alexei told me to contact him.  If it were anyone but him, I would make the contact myself, however Laurel and I did not leave on the best of terms, so there may be some residual hard feelings.  I do need to meet with him.”

“Yes, you do.  He has an ear to the ground and was part of your father’s inner circle.  He will be the best person to help to guide you to the various organizations that have a hold on Starling.  Especially the Triad.”  She put down the bottle of water that she was holding.  “I take it you would like me to reach out to him?”

Oliver nodded.  “Please.  Don’t tell him that it is me that he is going to meet.  I would prefer that you just tell him that there is a new Bratva captain in town and then suggest to meet in the old Queen factory in the Glades.”

“Interesting choice of a meeting place,” Moira responded dryly.

“It’s abandoned and there is less of a chance of us being intercepted.  Plus, if the meeting goes well, I hope to get his opinion on making that our base of operations.  I want to keep my public and private lives as separate as possible.”

“Understood and yes, I will make a call.  Set up a meeting for say eleven tonight?”

“Yes, I believe that would be perfect.”

“Then go.  Oh, Walter told me to tell you that Ms. Smoak has done a complete overview of the security system and announced it as atrocious.  She had already given him a list of what she needs to build one from scratch and over the next few weeks she will be here to get it up and running.”

He immediately recalled an image of the blonde woman chewing on the end of a pen and smiled.  “Walter was right.  She really is unique.”

“Can we trust her?”

“We can’t afford not to.  Even _I_ know that the system in place is subpar for today’s technology and to run an effective operation, we will need the best.  She graduated MIT with a Master’s degree at the age of twenty-one.  She certainly ranks up there with the best.”

Moira nodded as she picked up her spray bottle again.  “I will make the call to Quentin before supper then.  Raisa is making her braised beef.”

Oliver laughed.  “Raisa is going to make me fat if she keeps feeding me all my favorites,” he said before heading back to his room to change for a workout.

#

Oliver arrived at the factory around ten-thirty.  He wanted to make sure that he was in place and hidden prior to Lance getting there.  He also carried a voice modulator so that he could conduct the interview with the most privacy.  He looked around the open room before picking his spot along a walkway on the second story.  It gave him line of sight to all of the points of entry and would make for a dramatic entry.

At eleven on the dot, he heard footsteps echoing and watched as Lance walked in.  “Hello?” he called out.

Oliver switched the voice modulator on.  “Good evening, Detective Lance.”

The man looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice.  Finally, he responded, “Good evening.”

“I have been told that you are loyal to Bratva.  Is this true?”

“Why don’t you come out here and talk to me face to face?” the Detective returned.

Oliver smiled, liking the gumption that was in his voice.  “As you wish,” he said before swinging off of the balcony and into a shadow.  “Is this better?”

“Not really.  Can’t say that talking to a shadow is much better.”

“Trust me, Detective.  Talking to a shadow is an effective form of telling the truth.  And you will tell me the truth.  Are you loyal to Bratva?  Were you loyal to Robert Queen?”

“Yes.”

“Will you be loyal to me?”

“I can’t answer that without knowing who you are.”

“Then I ask you to keep an open mind,” Oliver told him before switching off the modulator and stepping into a patch of light.  “I know that I am probably the last person that you want to see.”

Lance snorted as he got a good look.  “Well, well.  If it isn’t a playboy.  So, tell me where to find your Captain, Oliver Queen.”

“You’re looking at him,” Oliver responded before moving his shirt far enough for Lance to see the tattoo.

“I don’t believe it.  Bratva has never made an American a Captain.  What are you playing at, Queen?”

“I’ll admit, it was a surprise to me when I was given this rank, but I earned it just as fairly as any other Captain.  As for what I am playing at?  I’m here to find the man who murdered my father.  So, I ask you again.  Will you be loyal to me?”

Lance stared at him intently before finally nodding.  “You have actually changed.  If your father could see it, he would be very proud of you.  He never thought that you would grow enough of a pair to follow him in his footsteps and you have actually surpassed him.  So, yes.  I will be loyal to you Queen.  What do you need of me?”

“For now, information.  I need to decide where to put my interests and then I need to know who you would suggest for my brigade.  My mother said that you were part of my father’s inner circle and since I am looking for his killer, I need someone who knows the ins and outs of his operation.  Can you do that for me?”

Lance nodded.  “I only ask for one thing?”  He paused to wait for Oliver to acknowledge him.  “Leave Laurel out of this.  She knows nothing of this life and I want to keep it that way.”

Oliver nodded.  “I can do that.  What of Sara?”

Lance rolled his eyes.  “Sara is currently out of the country, attending school in Moscow.”

Oliver caught his words for the hint that they were.  Sara was aware of her father’s connections and had chosen to pursue that life.  He wondered if she knew how little responsibilities women in the Bratva were given.  However, given that she was stubborn as a mule and had a good right hook the last time he saw her, he would not discount her ability to get what she wanted.  “Then I wish her the best in her studies,” he simply said. 

Lance nodded.  “I will contact you in a few days with the most likely investment opportunities that you will have here.  If that is all?”

“Yes, Lance.  That will be all for now.”

Lance turned and began to talk towards the door, pausing just before the entrance.  “Oh, and if you are looking for a _bodyguard_ ,” he said with emphasis, “then I know a guy.  I’ll send you all his information.”

Oliver just nodded as Lance left, feeling pleased that he was able work out a relationship with Lance.  Of one thing he was certain.  His father had trusted Lance, so he was inclined to believe that the man had not betrayed him.  With his errand behind him, he left as well to go back to the mansion to see what the next day held.

#

Felicity awoke Sunday morning with excitement fluttering in her chest.  She knew that she was going to enjoying working on creating a completely new security system for the Queen’s.  The list of equipment that she had given Mr. Steele was long and expensive, but not anywhere near the cost that it would be if they had hired a company to do the same thing.  It wouldn’t be near the quality of her work either.  She threw on a robe over her Dr. Who pajamas and quickly made her way to her computer hub, where she kept her best coffee beans.  Yes, she was a coffee snob, but she was proud of that fact.

She had just booted up her system when her phone rang.  She smiled when she saw it was Ash.  “Hey you,” she answered.  “You in town yet?”

_“Yep.  Just landed.”_

“And how were you planning on infiltrating Hunt Multinational again?”

_“Trust me, Smoak.  The less you know, the better.  Needless to say, I don’t want you to have blackmail material.  I’ll get in, get the system bugged and then I’m out.  In the next couple of weeks some field agents will make their way into the city and go undercover.  They will be there if for some reason things get out of hand.”_

Felicity raised an eyebrow.  “Is that expected?”

_“No, but we have learned to be prepared.  Tell me what is going on with you?”_

“Well, Walter Steele asked me to upgrade the security system at the Queen mansion.  Oh, Ash.  Their system just hurt my soul.  It was bad.”

_“How bad?”_

She snorted.  “I could have hacked in when I was nine.  Seriously.  I don’t know who was in charge of maintaining it, but they seriously need to fire whoever it was.  I’m surprised that more people hadn’t tried to hack it.  I only saw one vague attempt, but with the boring information stored on the system, I don’t think they got what they were looking for.  This is going to be a complete overhaul.”

_“You do realize that your idea of a good system is vastly different than most of the world.  You make the best systems look like Swiss cheese with how easily hacking comes to you.”_

“Fine.  I’ll admit it, but Ash even the greenest hacker could have gotten into the system.  It was worse than the ones at QC.”

_“Which is now pretty much locked down like Fort Knox, thanks to you.  Obviously the man is not an idiot if he wanted you to upgrade their system.  Find anything interesting?”_

“Nothing at all.  It almost makes me wonder if the system was scrubbed somehow, but none of the people in that family strike me as the type that would be able to do that.  If it’s scrubbed clean enough that I can’t find a trace of anything…”

_“Then either there is another computer tech out there with your abilities, which is not the most likely of scenarios, or there was nothing to find in the first place.  Trust your gut.  What does it say?”_

“That no sensitive information was stored on that system.  Either Robert Queen was storing everything related to QC at the office or there is a secondary system that I know nothing about.”

_“Or he was old school and preferred paper.”_

“That to.  So far, there is nothing to tie any of the Queen family to Bratva.”

_“Oliver Queen did just spend five years in Russia and lied about being in that village for the entire time.  Something is going on there and it is your job to find out what.”_

“Thanks for the pep talk, Ash.  You really know how to make a girl feel good about herself,” she shot back with a snort.

Ash laughed.  _“That’s why you keep me around!  Anyway, I’ve gotta go get set up in the small freakin’ apartment that the agency got for me.  Seriously, I’ve seen closets that are bigger, but it fits my background and it’s only for a week.”_

“So don’t complain,” she finished for him.  “Ping me if you need anything.”

_“Will do.”_

With a smile on her face, Felicity turned back to her computers to see if she could find any more on the Bratva in Starling City.

#

Oliver was reading some reports from Russia when Moira knocked on his door.  “Oliver?  There is a man here who said you were expecting him?  A Mr. Diggle?”

Oliver nodded.  John Diggle was the person that Detective Lance had recommended to him and he wanted to get a feel for the man prior to employing him.  “Please send him in,” he told her as he activated the jammer.

When he walked in, Oliver was impressed.  He knew that he was in the peak physical condition of his life, but compared to the extremely muscled John Diggle, he felt like he was still the playboy.  The black man, who he gauged to be five to ten years older than him, carried himself with precision, controlled power.  It was obvious from his posture and the way he handled himself that he was ex-military.  _Curious.  Why would an ex-soldier get involved with organized crime?_   He stood behind his desk and extended his hand.  “Mr. Diggle.  I’m Oliver Queen.”

The man accepted his handshake and nodded.  “It is nice to meet you Mr. Queen.  Please call me either Diggle or Dig.”

“Then please call me Oliver, Dig.  Have a seat.”

Dig sat down in the chair.  “Detective Lance told me you were looking for a bodyguard,” he said carefully.

“You can talk freely here, Dig.  I have measures in place to ensure that we are not overheard.  Yes, Lance gave me your name since I am new to the city here.  What skills do you have?”

“I am an accomplished sniper and excelled in hand-to-hand.  I was in the Army Special Forces and did three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“Did you choose this life, Dig?”

“You mean did I choose to become Bratva?  Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because our government cannot protect the ones that I love.  Bratva can.”

Oliver furrowed his brow, trying to reconcile what the man had told him with the impression of a stand up citizen that he was getting.  “I don’t understand.”

Dig smirked.  “The government is responsible for the deaths of countless lives in their “pursuit for justice”.  Basically, in Bratva I am doing the same thing as what I did for the Army, yet they call it criminal.  Do you know that I killed more people as a sniper in the military than I have since I joined Bratva?”  He laughed.  “Face it.  I have a better chance of living doing this than what I was doing.  Others have not been so lucky.”

“How long have you been part of Bratva?”

“I joined up right after your plane went down in Siberia.  Started off as a low level enforcer, but the brigade I was with finally promoted me to assassin.  I’m good at my job, Oliver and I am looking forward to moving back to Starling City.  I have family here.”

Oliver nodded.  “You will understand that I cannot make the decision right away.  I will need to get references and verifications first.”

“Of course.  Take all the time you need.”

Oliver stood.  “It was a pleasure to meet you, Dig.  Lance gave me your contact information, so I will be in touch.”

Dig just nodded stoically before leaving the room.  As Oliver watched him go, he knew that he would need to do a more in depth search on the man.  He didn’t think that Dig had been telling him the real reason about why he joined up with the Bratva in the first place.  _Maybe I can have Felicity look into him,_ he thought with a smile.  _It will be a good test to see how good she actually is and whether or not I can use her in the future for specific needs._


	9. Maintaining a Cover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never try to out-hack a hacker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok. So when I meant that I would update this chapter soon, 3 weeks later was NOT what I had in mind. I'm still crazy busy at work and I am now taking a business trip next week out of country, so the last 2 weeks have been a panic of trying to get my passport renewed. Ended up being super easy and the good folks at the passport agency were amazing.
> 
> Anyway, I'm hoping that my trip away will do 2 things. One, even though I still have to work, it will not be the insane amount of hours that I've been putting in right now (70+ hours a week) and I'll have almost two days with nothing to do but sit on the beach! I really love my job sometimes! :) Two, with said free time, hopefully I will be able to make my muse come back. Crossing my fingers on that one!

By eight a.m. Monday morning, Felicity was already mainlining coffee like it was water.  She had been up until three trying to set up different phishing codes in the computer system that she was building for the Queens.  Her exhaustion was her own fault.  Ash had been correct in assuming that she had her work cut out for her, but she still hadn’t been able to find anything that connected the Queens to Bratva.  It didn’t help that she was also striking out when it came to Robert Queen’s untimely death.  The only person who stood to gain was Walter Steele, which he had.  He had become CEO and married Moira Queen, but he was squeaky clean.  Her gut also said that he was not involved in the plane crash.

With only four hours of sleep, she was blearily sitting at her computer, trying to strengthen the security for the QC servers when her computer pinged at her.  And not a good ping.  Someone was trying to hack in.  _Stupid.  Never try to hack into a system when the IT department is around,_ she thought as she began to battle the unknown hacker while setting up a trace to see if she could find them.  Her fingers flew over the computer, simultaneously running a trace while also blocking access to the sensitive documents.  Multiple times, she sent the hacker down the rabbit hole, only to have him find his way out.

 _He’s good, whoever he is,_ she thought as she redoubled her efforts.  _But, I’m better._   All traces of sleepiness were gone now as she tried to predict what information that the hacker was seeking.  She knew if she could narrow it down, she could possibly redirect them to one of the pockets of code she set up that mirrored the information, but was completely false.

“Felicity?”

She spared a glance to look up and found Oliver standing in front of her desk.  “No time right now.  Someone is trying to hack QC and I’m barely blocking them right now,” she muttered before refocusing her attention on the code streaming across her screen, smiling when she saw the hacker going back to the accounting side of business.  Quickly she pulled up another coding box and the keys clacked loudly as she typed in the next set of code, sending the hacker to a fake financial site while simultaneously attaching a tracking virus.  A few moments later, the hacker disappeared and she settled back with a sigh of relief.  _I need to update the security again.  Frak.  I’m going to have to go with government level encryption with multiple firewalls and misdirection sites._

Oliver cleared his throat as she settled back.  “Everything good here?”

Felicity shook her head.  “Yeah.  Looks like they were searching for financial statements, so I sent them to a fake site that I set up a couple of months ago, but that was close.  If the hacker had tried this when I wasn’t here, well let’s just say that it could have been bad.”  She snorted.  “They never learn their lesson.  No one can out-hack me.”

“You’re a hacker?”

Felicity felt her eyes grow wide.  “Oh, frak!  Please forget that I just said that.  I’m not a hacker, I’m a computer security specialist.  No illegal hacking going on here.  Nope.  None.  Nada.  I’m just good at my job and well I really take it personally when someone tries to circumvent my system.  Like really personally.  It’s like you are violating me and not in a good way!”  She felt her face heat up.  “And by you, I don’t mean that you personally were trying to violate me.  Shutting up now in three…two…one.”

Oliver felt his lips twitch and it took all of his willpower not to laugh.  “Felicity.  Calm down, breathe.  Someone was trying to hack into the QC servers and you stopped them, correct.”  She nodded.  “Then good job.  Anyway we can find out who it was?”

“I put a tracking virus in the code, so there might be a chance.  All else fails, I’ll at least be able to narrow it down to a country or state if they are local.”

“Good.  I’m sure it just some sort of industrial espionage or something.  Our competitors probably just want to know what we are up to.  But, that is not why I came by.”  She raised an eyebrow.  “Walter reminded me that when hiring staff, it is prudent to run a background check.  I’m looking into hiring some new security personnel and I wanted to see if you knew the best place to get a background check was.”

“Really?  That’s what you’re going with? Cause if you wanted to know that, you’d ask our HR department who runs all the security background checks for each person in this company.”

“I did ask them already, but the service that they use only works for companies, not private clients and the ones that I found online seem a little….sketchy.”

“Of course they’re sketchy!  They just want to take your money, but I’m sure there are some reputable services out there that do the checks for private citizens or would make an exception for a billionaire,” Felicity tossed back, her mind whirling with why he was asking her of all people about background checks.

“But who runs the background checks on them?” he tossed right back with a smirk.  “Plus, I’m a big fan of instant gratification and I don’t want to wait weeks for results.”

Later, she would blame the lack of sleep on the absolutely inappropriate images that popped into her at when Oliver uttered the word gratification, but that was later.  Now, she felt her face flame up as her mind took an extended trip to the gutter and for once, her mouth didn’t babble away as she was prone to do.  Instead, she swallowed hard, yanking her libido back from the brink with a firm _not today_ resounding in her head and asked, “What are you really asking for, Oliver?”

“I’m asking if you know anyone that might want to run quasi-illegal background checks on my employees so that I can prevent any scandals from tearing apart my family after my miraculous return home.”

 _Of for the love of Dr. Who, how should I play this?_   She pretended to think for a moment.  “I might know more than one person that would fit that bill.  But, skating that fine line means that there is a higher risk involved.”

Oliver smirked.  “I would be willing to compensate the person I hire for their trouble.”

“What if they want to remain anonymous?” she shot back, thinking that this could be the way she was able to get more insight into the Queen family.

“No one anonymous.  I want to know who is working for me,” Oliver said instantly.

“I’ll reach out to some of my colleagues and see who is in the market for a job,” she replied.  _And I’ll contact my superiors to see how they want me to play this.  Maybe, if they don’t want me to do it, then Ash can stick around for a bit.  He is more than good enough for this type of job._

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.  Now, if you will excuse me, I think it’s time that I updated the security again.  I swear we have had more hacking attempts in the time since you’ve been back then any other time since I joined the IT department.  I shudder at what state the company would be in if I hadn’t already updated the security a gazillion times.”

Oliver actually laughed at that.  “You are remarkable.”

“Thank you for remarking on it,” she shot back with a small smile before focusing on the screen in front of her.

#

As Oliver made his way out of the building in search of coffee, he thought back to what Felicity had said.  People were now trying to hack QC.  He knew she was right in thinking it was because of his return; it had generated a lot of press.  The investors were nervous about whatever was going to happen, which is why he was pushing off taking over the CEO role.  He was nothing but honest with himself and he was nowhere near ready for that type of position.  He hadn’t even managed to complete a full year of college! 

He was contemplating on taking courses online to help him get a business degree so that investors would be more likely to accept him as leader when he received a text message from Lance requesting a meeting.  He sent back an affirmative and began to head over to a local coffee house not too far from QC.  He arrived just moments before Lance, so he secured the only table left, which happened to be the one tucked into a corner.

“You threaten someone for this table?” Lance’s sardonic voice greeted him.

“Nope.  Worst table in the house.  No one wants it.  What can I do for you, Detective?”

“I have that information that you asked for,” Lance said before lowering his voice.  “The Chinese really have the drug and gun market covered and the Italians have recently made a big stand in smuggling and underground casinos.”

“I see,” Oliver said as the wheels began to turn in his head.  News that the Italian presence had grown in his absence was not a good one.  “Then perhaps I should pursue my father’s business interests.”

Lance nodded.  “That would seem to be the best course of action.”  He cleared his throat.  “I heard from Sara today.  She has…graduated and is coming back to Starling.”

“Really,” Oliver said with a slow drawl.  “Would you have any objections to her working for me?”  He saw Lance’s confusion.  “Not in the traditional sense that is prevalent, but actually working for me.”

“You would give her the opportunity?”

Oliver nodded.  “Let’s just say my education was broad and I have a fine appreciation for the value that women bring to the workforce.”

Lance sighed in relief.  “I believe that would be perfect, then.  As much as I didn’t want her to follow in my footsteps, Sara is hard-headed and dedicated.  She’s make a fine addition to your _company._   How is Mr. Diggle working out?”

“I’m still waiting on his background check to come through and then I believe that he will be good.”  Oliver glanced down at his watch.  “If you will excuse me, I have a meeting in ten minutes that Walter wants me to be present for.”

“Have a good day, Mr. Queen,” Lance said as they gathered their cups to dispose of.

Oliver nodded.  _Okay.  Two possible members right now, three if I can somehow convince Felicity to join us.  After our talk this morning, I do believe that she would fit right in.  I must speak with Anatoly and see if he has any recommendations for personnel in the area, but I’m hesitant to do that.  What if one of them was the person that killed my father?_

#

When Felicity got home that evening, she immediately called Agent Vendler.

_“Vendler.”_

“It’s Felicity.  I don’t know how important this is, but Oliver Queen asked me to see if I knew anyone who could run quasi-illegal background checks for any new staff that he is hiring personally.  How do you want me to play this?”

Agent Vendler hummed.  _“Did he seem like he wanted you to take the position?”_

Felicity sighed.  “Possibly, yes.  But, he had also just discovered me fighting off a hacker on the QC servers.  That is becoming a real problem.  I have seen a three-hundred percent increase in hacking attempts since his miraculous return.  And the thing that is worrying me the most, is that I believe that the majority of the attempts are from the same hacker.  Whomever he is, he’s good.  I haven’t been able to track him at all.”

_“Do it.  If you build a relationship with the man, then it is more likely for you to discover the family secrets.”_

“All right.  I can backstop myself a little more.  Former black hat hacker that is trying to go straight.  I think that might appeal to him.”

_“Just keep me informed of your progress.  And if he has you get into any illegal activities, do it.  You can always build the case for later.  Someone high up is really pushing us to get this resolved.”_

“You got it, boss,” Felicity responded as she hung up, Agent Vendler’s words ringing in her head.  _Now why is someone high up in the CIA so anxious for us to resolve this issue?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what'd you think??


	10. author's note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not an update it's just a note

Okay everyone, let me start off by saying I normally hate chapter updates like this but I did not want to leave you hanging. Unfortunately I'm having some health issues right now including a broken respond unable to type so although I started the actual check kannel month ago I cannot get finish the good thing is that since I've been in the hospital for almost a month I have lots of good story ideas for the store now so expect to have some interesting chapter 4i go into the feelings that I felt since I've gotten to the hospital thank everyone for their patience at all the comments and kudos . I really appreciate them


	11. 10.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This goes a little bit into establishing a possible relationship between our favorite couple, as well as giving some info about Oliver’s 5 years in Russia. 
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos, favorites ad reviews they inspire my muse to write o this story and on my original.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Wow guys. I have so much to say, that I don’t know where to start. So, First off, a good portion of this chapter was written I May before my life turned upside down. Secondly, I am doing much better since my health scare in May. Take this as truth, people, Please DO NOT SMOKE! It is not worth it. Since,I know people are going to ask, I had a stoke that affected the left side of my body. I still do not have any control of my left hand back, so typing is now hunt and peck. It was caused in part by smoking (but I am not yet 40, so proof that it can happen at any age). After a month in the hospital and 3 months of therapy, I am now living back at home, but so help me, that’s been a pain. My laptop died, so I had to get a new one and then figure out how to transfer all of my music (which I am still trying to do) and my various stories).

** Chapter Ten: The Beginning **

 

By the time the sun rose, Oliver had already been up for several hours.  After his conversation with Lance the previous evening, he had reached out to Anatoly to see what Sara’s training had actually entailed.  He was pleased to learn that she had been trained rigorously and Anatoly had stated that she had outshone most of her male counterparts.  The older man had sounded relieved when Oliver had stated he wanted her as part of his brigade.  Oliver surmised that Sara had caused some upheaval as the Bratva was not known for letting women being a part of the actual business.  Behind the men who were running the business, most definitely.  Even Anatoly’s wife, Valeria, was just an ornament when any members of the Bratva were around. 

As he began his morning run around the property, he thought back to his time in Russia and the months he spent recovering from the plane crash.

_When Oliver awoke from the plane crash, he could barely open his eyes and when he finally did, he wished he hadn’t.  His father was still sitting in the seat across from him, but covered in blood with eyes that were staring into nothing.  It took longer than he had liked to realize that the man who had just rocked his world beliefs was dead.  When the realization hit, he knew that he wasn’t far behind him as his own vision wavered.  As the darkness settled over him, he heard indistinct voices in the distance._

_When he awoke again, he was warm and lying on a comfortable bed.  He briefly thought that he had imagined the plane crash and he was back in his bedroom in Starling City.  Once his eyes opened, he knew that it had not been a dream.  He was in a bedroom, but one that featured dark woods and earth colors.  He groaned as he turned his head, the pain shooting through his temple, but he found an older man sitting in a comfortable looking chair next to the bed._

_“Good, you are awake,” the man said in heavily accented English._

_“Where am I?” he finally managed to respond._

_“That is of no importance right now.  Right now, I want to know what you remember of the crash and your father’s life.”_

_Oliver studied the man, trying to figure out how to respond as the man handed him a glass of water.  After taking a couple of sips, his dry throat eased and his brain recalled the names that his father had mentioned before the plane began its sudden dive.  “Who are you?” he asked, his tone distrustful._

_“Anatoly Knyazev.”_

_The name rang a bell and Oliver thought for a moment before his father’s voice rang in his head.  “You are the leader of the Russian Mob.”_

_“Yes.  I am the Pakhan of the Bratva.  More than that, I counted your father as a friend and his death troubles me deeply.  Please, you must tell me why he was coming to Russia.  He did not tell me of his trip beforehand.”_

_“Dad said that a new Captain had been announced and he had plans to dismantle the city, but he didn’t give me any more information than that.  Just a few names of people he knew he could trust.  You were one of them.”_

_Anatoly furrowed his brow.  “I have not announced any Captain to be stationed in Starling City,” he began slowly.  “Forgive me.  I must go.  I need to gather more information.  If you remember anything, anything at all, please let me know.  For now, the doctors said that you have a couple of broken ribs as well as a severe concussion.  You should rest for now.”_

_Oliver felt his eyes beginning to close as the man walked out of the room._

Over the next years, he got a crash course in the mafia life.  It definitely was not as portrayed in movies.  Yes, there was money; yes, there were mansions and elaborate parties; yes, there was violence.  What wasn’t portrayed was the undercurrent of tension that those at the top felt.  It hadn’t been but a few weeks into his convalesce that he met Valeria, a woman who spoke not only flawless, almost unaccented English, but Mandarin, French and German as well.  

 

Oliver knew that she was responsible for a lot of the decisions that Anatoly made; it was widely known that with any important decision Anatoly would take at least a day to come to that decision.  Most men believed that it was because he was cautious and weighing the pros and cons, but Oliver knew better.  He had grown up with a mother who was as smart and ambitious as his father and he had seen how his father deferred to her.  Anatoly and Valeria’s communication had many of the same hallmarks.

#

Felicity kept thinking about Agent Vendler’s words, about how someone high up in the CIA wanted them to close this case quickly.  It didn’t make sense to her.  On the list of threats that the Agency was currently watching, the _Solntsevskaya Bratva_ was low on the list.  Since they were not actively trying to destroy the US, the pressure that they were getting did not make sense to her.  Her instincts were rarely wrong and right now her gut was screaming at her that there was more to this case then just tracking down the Russian mob.  With that in mind, she was certainly going to be watching everything carefully.

She spent a sleepless night, but in the morning, she dressed carefully before heading into QC.  She was the first one in the office (no surprise there as the rest of the IT department seemed to enjoy banker’s hours) and settled into her desk to check to see if there had been any hacking attempts the prior evening.  She didn’t expect any, since the current pattern was a couple of hacking attempts spread over a few days.  Plus, she had upgraded the security firewalls again the prior evening, getting closer to what she was used to using at the CIA.  With no red flags, she got to work on a list of requisitions.

 

#

 

Valeria introduced herself as soon as Anatoly ad brought him to his home, which was much bigger and more lavish than Queen Mansion.  Oliver had been impressed.  She was nothing like he’d expected for the leader of the most feared mob in Russia.  He’d expected a trophy wife, not a high powered business woman

The he realized that the Bratva was essentially a business and it was Valeria’s job to run that business, at least the administration of it, while Anatoly took care of any violent aspects of it.  Thinking back at the lessons she had drilled into him about the way a proper Bratva business was run, at least at the Captain level and above.  They were always run by the wives.  He needed to break himself away from his previous playboy ways, since the type of beautiful and intelligent woman he needed, were definitely not the bimbos he used to associate with.  Where could he find such a woman?  The only one that came to mind was Laurel, but she with him bringing Sara into his brigade, that was just asking to be murdered in his sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos, favorites ad reviews they inspire my muse to write o this story and on my original.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think!


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